


We're Unstoppable

by cabooseachievables



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Multi, Slow Burn, Tommy will probably be nonbinary, there will be background ships eventually but you'll have to squint when we get there, they play overwatch and have no idea they go to the same high school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-17 12:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11275515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabooseachievables/pseuds/cabooseachievables
Summary: Trini meets a bunch of teenagers on Overwatch, and they're steamrolling every team they go up against. But for all she knows, they're just a bunch of strangers— probably from across the country. What are the odds that they're from the same sad town? More importantly, what are the odds that their Mercy is Trini's high school crush?Huge, apparently.(The AU where they all play Overwatch and become professionals as they try to figure themselves out. The Trimberly Dwarves discord server is to blame for this one.)





	1. we can be heroes, everywhere we go

There aren’t many things that Trini does in her free time. Her mother is usually on her case about it, insisting that she does something,  _ anything _ outside of school. She wants Trini to make friends and actually go out with them instead of just… sitting in her room all evening. But Trini was never really interested in the ideas that her parents came up with. Dance? No. Sports? Fuck no. She’d rather stay home and do homework than go out and run track or play soccer.

 

Recently, though, she’d found something better to do. When Overwatch came out a few months back, Trini hadn’t really paid much attention to it. It was one of those typical first person shooters, full of thirteen year old boys and giant man-babies. Not to mention the fact that it cost $40, or $60 if you wanted a small handful of exclusive skins. The game just never seemed like it would be her thing.

 

Then it started to really blow up sometime during November because some new character was being released, and Trini normally wouldn’t have cared. But, apparently, this new character was a Latina woman, extremely badass, with a side of her head shaved. It piqued her interest at the very least, and eventually she heard about a “free weekend” thing that they were doing, so Trini tried it out.

 

Ever since then, she’s been hooked.

 

After school, Overwatch is pretty much the first thing Trini does when she gets home. (Sure, if she has a decent amount of homework she’ll try to do that first, but Overwatch is usually the priority.) Even if it’s a team game, Trini does fairly well on her own. Occasionally she’ll meet some pretty cool people in game, adding them to her friends list, but rarely ever speaks to them again. Regardless, Trini has a pretty good time wrecking people as Pharah all evening.

 

She never really considered playing competitive, but today would be the day that she tried it out.

 

Truly, competitive wasn’t nearly as intimidating as many people made it out to be. It is definitely way more intense and is taken more seriously, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a game that Trini loves to play. Well, for the most part.

 

_ Now arriving in King’s Row _ .

 

The match had barely even loaded in for Trini when some complete dipshit started hollering into his mic, completely startling her and probably everyone else on the team.

 

“Alright, let’s do this!” The boy cheered, too optimistically. Does he not realize how annoying he’s being? And holy shit, his username is xxBlackDeathxx for fuck’s sake. This poor guy must be stuck in the time period of Myspace or something. It didn’t even surprise Trini when he instantly chose Junkrat, shouting about how he’s one of the best Junkrats ever and that they “weren’t ready” for his skills.

 

Trini rolls her eyes, selecting Pharah and taking a sip from her water bottle.

 

To everyone’s surprise, their team was blowing through the match. The first capture point was taken easily after the enemy Roadhog made the mistake of peeking, only to get caught by one of xxBlackDeathxx’s traps. They advanced and managed to wipe the enemy team without using all of their ultimates.

 

“That’s what I’m talking about! Yeah!” The same guy shouted into the team chat, and Trini heard another player groan in annoyance. It was seriously taking all of her strength not to mute him and act like he never even existed. She can’t though. Communication is important in competitive and, besides, it’s not like she’ll play any other matches with him after this.

 

The payload was being moved smoothly, and Trini was doing pretty well with eliminations. She pressed Tab briefly, frowning when she saw that all she had were silver medals. Who the hell has the golds?

 

_ Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! _

 

Junkrat’s voice came from somewhere behind the payload, followed by the loud sound of a friendly rip-tire that was on the move. The explosion sound came next, along with a flood in the killfeed.

 

“Quadruple kill! I told you guys I was amazing at this game!”

 

Yeah, and that’s definitely play of the game.

 

The attack went well and the defense went even better, because between Trini thriving in the air and the Junkrat’s relentless firing of bombs, the enemy team never even captured the first point. It was a landslide of a victory. Not bad at all for Trini’s first competitive game.

 

Play of the Game obviously went to the annoying Junkrat with his rip-tire, and even Trini could admit that it was an impressive play. Their team had all of the cards at the end, including Trini; a card for 39 direct hits as Pharah, which boosted her confidence a bit.

 

“That was awesome. Come on guys,” the guy started saying, and Trini realized that he’d hit the ‘stay as a team’ button that automatically groups you up. Everyone else was leaving as quickly as possible, not saying a word or even a friendly “gg.” That left Trini and this idiot named xxBlackDeathxx, who was no doubt waiting for her to hit the button before time ran out.

 

... _ Fuck it _ . They did well together as a team. Why not?

 

The second she selected ‘stay as a team,’ he started cheering in celebration. They were pulled out and left in the menus, and Trini prayed silently that he wouldn’t attempt at a conversation. She didn’t feel like dealing with another one of those girls-aren’t-good-at-video-games talks.

 

“You’re a kickass Pharah, man. I’m trash at her. I don’t know how you do it,” he starts to say, not yet queueing them up for another match. A peaceful moment of silence passes, and just as Trini starts to think that he’s done talking, he continues. “My name is Zack. I like to play Junkrat and Genji, sometimes Roadhog. Zenyatta is sick too.”

 

Now she’s really starting to regret accepting this group invite. The guy never shuts up, and it’s obvious that he’s trying to get her to talk, but she really does not want to.

 

“...I’ll just call you Saber, then. That’s pretty cool.” 

 

When Trini chose the username Sabertooth, it was mostly because of her belief that saber-toothed animals were pretty awesome. Ever since she was kid, she’d found them fascinating — especially the tigers. (When Trini told her mom this, she just shook her head and told her that she was being ridiculous.) So naturally it was the first and only cool name she’d come up with when first downloading Overwatch, and never saw the point in changing it.

 

This still doesn’t get her to talk, but Zack finally queues them up. The wait time is around three minutes. Wonderful. 

 

He keeps talking, saying things that are completely irrelevant to the game and asking questions that make no sense, and it doesn’t take much longer for her to break.

 

“Dude, do you always talk this much?” Trini says after unmuting her mic. Zack is dead quiet. Maybe now he’ll just shut up, and he won’t say anything else to her for the rest of —

 

“Are you a girl or a 12 year old boy?”

 

She shoots back, “I’m a girl, asshole.”

 

Another complete, utter silence.

 

“So… are you single or — ”

 

“Oh my  _ god _ ,” Trini groans, just as they get put into a match. Of course he’d ask that. But that was none of his business, and it especially wasn’t his business to know that he wasn’t anywhere near her type. So she muted herself again, bracing for some kind of sexist comment or lecture about her being a girl playing competitive.

 

Zack never brought it up again, though. Instead, he continued to be annoying as fuck, popping into the team chat every so often to screech about his amazing gameplay and triple kills. Trini started to talk more often as they played more games together, slowly becoming somewhat comfortable with the guy. They even joked around occasionally whenever something happened, like a bad enemy ultimate or a Widowmaker suddenly striking them both down.

 

(“...How the hell did she do that?” Trini grumbled, watching the replay of her death on screen.

 

“Aimbot, probably.”

 

“Well considering that was the only time she killed me, I’d say that’s a shitty aimbot.”)

 

Two wins turned into three, and three wins turned into four, and eventually they were on an unbelievable winning streak together. At the rate they were going, there was no doubt that they’d be placed at a decent rank, like low platinum or high gold. Trini even got play of the game during one game after a Zarya had ulted; she combo’d with Barrage, earning her a quad kill and letting their team capture the point.

 

The clock hit 4:00AM after their seventh match and Trini knew she had to go before her mother woke up for work, so she said goodnight to Zack and prepared to sign off. But despite her better judgement and his annoying antics, she sent him a friend request before leaving.

 

**

 

Waking up the next morning was horrible, resulting in a miserable Trini at the table for breakfast. Couldn’t her mother let her sleep in on Saturdays? Most teenagers get to sleep in until at least noon without being bothered by their parents. Apparently the Gomez household has never heard of such a thing however, and now Trini is trying to eat waffles while struggling to keep her eyes open.

 

The only good thing to come out of waking up early was being able to hop on Overwatch when she finished eating. Surprisingly, Zack was already online and in the middle of an arcade match when she opened the game. She considered shooting him a message, but he beat her to it.

 

**[xxBlackDeathxx]:** you up for some more comp matches????

**[Sabertooth]:** do you never sleep or something?

**[Sabertooth]:** but yeah sure why not

**[xxBlackDeathxx]:** couldnt sleep last night

**[xxBlackDeathxx]:** im playing with my friend billy so u can join us

 

Once their arcade match finished up, Trini received a group invite that she accepted quickly. She put on her headphones and adjusted her desk chair a little to sit comfortably. Zack was already talking about something in the group voice chat, ranting about an annoying Winston ruining his Genji gameplay.

 

“I’m just saying, we had a Reaper. He should’ve been taking care of — oh shit, look who it is!” Zack stops in the middle of his sentence as Trini adjusts her mic. “‘Sup, Sabertooth girl?”

 

“Wow, you’re even more annoying in the mornings,” Trini mumbles, still partially asleep. She thinks she hears Billy laugh at the comment, but Zack is scoffing loudly into his mic.

 

“That is so rude. If you weren’t totally carrying me last night as Pharah, I would be kicking you out of the group right now,” he says, trying his best to sound offended and hurt at her words. It lasts approximately three seconds before he starts to snicker.

 

They get thrown into a comp match quickly, and their first round is defense on Temple of Anubis. This was always Trini’s least favorite map, mainly because she always performed poorly on it. But Zack was optimistic, especially with this new boy Billy in their group. His username is Triceratops; it is a nerdy handle, but Trini can’t talk considering her own. With the timer counting down until the match begun, everyone locked into their characters and waited it out. Billy seems to be conflicted though, with his hero portrait flashing between Reinhardt and Symmetra repeatedly.

 

“We need the shield, but Symmetra is usually very good on this map…” Billy says, mostly to himself. He continues to debate with himself until the countdown reaches 30 seconds and Trini starts to get worried. However eventually he settles on Reinhardt, much to everyone’s relief. With Zack on Genji, they really needed someone… stable.

 

“What are you doing over there?” Trini sighs as she sees Zack near the enemy spawn, saying hello to the other players.

 

“What? I’m just being a good sport,” he laughs, dashing away from the spawn as Athena announces that five seconds remain.

 

“I’m going to stand up here,” Billy says, holding his shield up to protect their Mercy and Zenyatta. It’s a typical spot for Reinhardts to stand in the very beginning, especially if the enemies aren’t using a dive method. Zack and Trini both grunt in acknowledgment, and the match begins.

 

_ Defend the objective. _

 

For the most part, Billy plays very defensively as Reinhardt rather than being aggressive. He doesn’t charge into the enemy team like a bowling ball to get himself killed, and keeps his shield up at perfect times. Whenever Trini retreats for health he’s there to shield her and whichever healer is nearby, so she only dies a few times throughout the entire round. Zack just continues to die, but that’s just because he insists on playing Genji and fights five miles away from the team.

 

At least he gets kills, though. Zack pulls out a Dragonblade as the enemy team tries to push and gets a triple. Billy applauds him. Trini is about to make a comment about it when the enemy Mercy flies in and instantly resurrects her fallen team members, turning the tide of the fight.

 

They end up losing the first objective, and have to defend the second point.

 

“Our Mercy isn’t very good,” Billy says, and it’s easy to picture the frown on his face.

 

“Yeah, she never heals me!” Zack shouts in agreement. Just as he does, Trini sees him get hooked by an enemy Roadhog and he dies instantly.

 

“That’s just because you’re annoying as fuck,” Trini says. This time Billy really laughs, and Zack makes more offended noises that are overexaggerated. The enemy team tries to push into the second objective with their Reinhardt in front, but Trini manages to knock one of their healers away with Pharah’s concussive blast.

 

“Trini, do you think you can destroy that Reinhardt’s shield?” Billy asks, planning his next move as the enemy team continues to fire at them.

 

“Yeah, give me a second.” Trini shoots rockets directly at the enemy Rein’s shield, watching it become more and more cracked with every hit it endures. It only takes a few more hits, and…

 

_ Barrier destroyed! _

 

The sound of the Reinhardt’s shield going down is Billy’s cue, and he immediately uses his own ultimate to knock down the enemies.

 

Just like that, they get a team kill.

 

“Yo, that was awesome,” Trini says as Athena announces that there’s thirty seconds remaining. She’ll admit that in the beginning, she was pretty skeptical of Billy and his abilities as Reinhardt. He definitely proved her wrong.

 

The round ends with their team successfully defending the second objective. The attack round instantly turns into a disaster when the enemy team pulls out a Bastion and Symmetra for defense, barely letting them through the first choke for half of the game. It gets intense when a team fight starts and the enemy Zarya ults with perfect timing, but Trini sighs of relief when their team’s Zenyatta ults to save them.

 

Regardless, it ends up not working out. Their push fails when Mercy dies with her ultimate ready, and Zack cries something out about needing to find a better support to join the group.

 

They play two more full matches, winning one and losing one, in order to finish up Zack and Trini’s placements. She’s pretty satisfied when she gets ranked at 2468, on the border of low platinum. 

 

“Ha! I’m ranked higher,” Zack laughs proudly, but there isn’t much of a difference between them. The game placed him at 2475, a solid 7 points higher. That was enough of a gap for him to rub it in her face, though. If anything, it was because of his ridiculous methods of attack as Genji, which essentially summed up his entire presence: being annoying.

 

“Oh, my friend is online!” Billy says, despite the sound of Zack opening a bag of chips obnoxiously.

 

“What does he play?” Zack asks with a mouthful of doritos. The crunching is loud enough to make all of them cringe.

 

“Um… Soldier: 76.”

 

They wait for him continue, but that’s it. Billy stops talking and doesn’t list any more heroes.

 

“...Only soldier?” Trini questions, trying to fight back a laugh. There’s a faint sound of laughter from Zack’s end, and she almost loses it. Soldier: 76 is no doubt the most basic character in Overwatch, with the most basic set of abilities. Not to mention the fact that his ultimate is literally an  _ aimbot _ .

 

“Yeah, sometimes he plays McCree. But he’s a great soldier, really!” Billy insists. He sounds confident in his friend — more confident than they were, trying to contain laughs — and it was nearly impossible to say no to Billy. He was always so positive and encouraging during their matches. Who were they to tell him that he couldn’t invite his friend?

 

An invite is sent to Billy’s friend, and he informs him that his name is Jason. The username is RedRex, and Trini rolls her eyes at the idea of it being a reference to the T-Rex. (Two dinosaur names, really?)

 

Zack sends her a direct message.

 

**[xxBlackDeathxx]:** idk about this guy. Who ONLY plays soldier???

**[Sabertooth]:** yeah idk either. let’s see how he does tho

**[Sabertooth]:** if he sucks i’m leaving and going to take a nap

**[xxBlackDeathxx]:** …...me too

 

Their first match is attacking on a hybrid map, capture point and payload: Numbani. They needed to be mobile and Billy even suggested that they attempt a dive comp, and everyone else agreed. Jason immediately selected Soldier: 76 (to no one’s surprise) before one of the randoms on their team could. Billy chose Winston, Trini chose Pharah, and Zack (surprisingly) chose Lucio. It was definitely the first time she’d seen him choose a support hero, but they needed a support and he was willing to step up. Hopefully he knows what the hell he’s doing.

 

_ Attack commencing. Capture objective A. _

 

...And to say the very least, Zack and Trini ended up eating their words. Not only did Jason help them wipe the team continuously, but Play of the Game went to him when it was over. It didn’t even involve his ultimate, strangely enough.

 

They continue playing and Jason gets Play two more times in a row. And he’s even being so  _ nice _ to them, communicating during rounds and starting friendly conversation during queue times. He’s especially kind to Billy, who always compliments him on his aim. The boys never even treat Trini differently for being a girl, which actually shocks her.

 

Maybe she could get used to these guys.

 

“You’re way better at Soldier than I thought you’d be,” Zack admits at one point, chuckling.

 

“I’m really not that great at him. I still have trouble taking down Pharahs,” Jason says in the middle of opening a loot box. A displeased sigh comes through his mic briefly when all he gets are duplicates and icons. “If Sabertooth was on the enemy team, I’d get destroyed.”

 

Trini laughs at the comment. “Maybe we should try a 1v1 sometime.”

 

“Woah, I want in on this! I’ll destroy both of you,” Zack says. He couldn’t be more wrong.

 

A few more hours go by and Trini hardly even remembers that she was so tired in the beginning. Their group is going strong right now; they win almost every single match that they play, even with mediocre randoms completing their team. Of course they could be better, if only they could find a better healer than Zack (who is only extremely good at being an  _ aggressive _ Zenyatta). By the end of their winning streak and hours of playing, all of them are in the mid and high platinum ranks. Trini doesn’t even realize how much fun she’s having until her mother knocks on her door, asking who she’s talking to on the internet.

 

Weirdly, she feels the urge to call them her friends.

 

 

**

 

 

_ Round Two: won. _

 

King of the Hill maps are undoubtedly the most stressful kind of maps. The four of them decided to play again on Sunday mid afternoon, and this was their first match: Ilios. It was a fun map despite the stress of needing to win three rounds, especially for Billy, who found a great amount of joy in destroying the other team as Winston.

 

But what was  _ really _ pulling them through right now was their team’s Mercy. She was a random player that got matched with them. Her username is ‘PinkPoison,’ and it’s cheesy, yeah, but that doesn’t even matter. What matters is how quick she is to heal everyone after losing health, and her ability to successfully hide in critical fights. Her ultimates are perfectly timed, and Trini hears Zack say something about thinking that he’s in love.

 

If anyone was in love here, it was Trini. Playing Pharah on Ilios was a great idea, and having a Mercy in the air with her at all times was even better. (To repay her for it, Trini made sure to press the thank you button frequently and protected her if anyone targeted them in the air.) And, alright, Trini definitely likes Pharmercy as a couple, but that has  _ nothing _ to do with this. (Yes it does.)

 

“Yo, we need to add her after this,” Trini says during their final round. She’s getting in position to use her ultimate, and Mercy is damage boosting her. All they need now is to get the Orisa barrier down.

 

“Agreed,” Jason replies as he shoots down the enemy Lucio from behind, their only healer.

 

They win the match easily, and all four of them scramble to send the Mercy a group invite as soon as possible. Once the invite is sent, the voice chat falls silent as they all wait in anticipation. Ten seconds pass. The timer for the invite is surely almost over by now, but there still hasn’t been a response.

 

“I don’t think — ” Jason starts to say, but the sound of someone joining the group stops him instantly.

 

**[PinkPoison]** has joined the group.

 

“Holy shit, they actually joined!” Zack cheers.

 

There’s some rustling on the person’s end, as if they’re getting settled into their chair.

 

“Uh, hello?” The female voice comes through, and Trini isn’t sure if she should be relieved or terrified that it’s another girl. On one hand, having another girl around would probably make her more comfortable. On the other, how the fuck is Trini supposed to keep her gay ass in check with a voice like  _ that _ ?

 

“Hey there, Pinky. Hope you don’t mind the invite,” Zack says, putting the group into a queue. The girl laughs slightly at the nickname. “Our Pharah was practically begging us to get you in here.”

 

Trini feels her face heat up. “Yeah, well, we were all pretty fucking impressed.”

 

“Thanks. I play a lot of Mercy,” Pink says, and they all hear Zack’s gasp of amazement as he checks her career profile.

 

“Dude… 121 hours on Mercy? That’s crazy.”

 

Trini chokes on her water. That’s almost as many hours of gameplay that she had on the entire game itself. Pink also has a few other hours on Ana in competitive (but insists that her Ana isn’t good at all, because her aim is shit). All of them voice their awe and send friend requests — they were desperately in need of a good healer for this new comp team. And it’s strange, because Trini isn’t quite sure when they decided to be an exclusive team together, but it’s something they’ve all acknowledged.

 

“My name is Kim, by the way. But you can keep calling me Pink if you want,” the girl says, and a weird noise comes from Jason’s end. (The sound of realization, denial, confusion, and acceptance within the span of two seconds. No one comments on it.)

 

The team plays a few more matches, and none of them regret adding Kim; she saves all of their asses at least three times, individually and altogether. There might not be anything more satisfying than witnessing a five man resurrection that changes the course of the match. When the name PinkPoison appeared for play of the game, everyone was expecting it.

 

“I’ve been having a great time and all,” Zack says after their last match, and they can hear him getting up from his seat, “but I need to go take care of my mom. I’ll be on later.” Without any questions, everyone says goodbye. Maybe one day they’ll share more personal things with each other, but that day isn’t today. They hardly know each other, really. 

 

“Hey, Zack — ” Trini says quickly, just before Zack could leave.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Please change your fucking name,” she deadpans, and everyone else bursts into laughter. “Really, it’s embarrassing. Like, ‘My Immortal’ embarrassing.”

 

Zack is laughing too, so it’s good to know that he didn’t take any offense to the remark. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll use the free name change when I get the chance.”

 

He leaves then, with their laughter tapering off into an awkward silence.

 

(Trini sees Zack’s username change to  **ZackinBlack** on her friend’s list.)

 

“We should just do Quick Play,” Jason suggests. “I don’t want to risk playing with two randoms on our team in comp.”

 

Quick Play is so much easier in comparison to their previous games, and Jason even takes advantage of it to play McCree. Like Billy had said, his McCree really is... not that good, but he knows how to get a good ultimate off. If they practiced more, branching off into different heroes and becoming more comfortable with them, they could be even better. This was also the perfect time for Trini to pull out her Sombra skills, which she’d never do in competitive.

 

One good thing about Sombra being underrated is that people underestimate Sombra players. Trini gets two picks in the first choke of Hanamura, letting her team push through.

 

“Wow. You’re not that bad with her,” Jason comments as she drops a well-timed EMP. They use a few ults and get the enemy team to back off, letting them capture point A. “It’s rare to see a good Sombra player.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m Latina and she’s basically a taller, more badass version of me,” Trini says. After sneaking around some of the opponents, she finds a health pack and hacks it for her to use. She doesn’t even notice the smirk that grew on her face after Jason complimented her Sombra skills. 

 

“Wait,” Kim interjects, holding back her giggles, “you’re a girl? I thought you were, like, a 10 year old boy.”

 

“Fuck off.”

 

Trini groans at the girl’s laughter, and lets herself get distracted enough to be picked off by the enemy Soldier.

 

“Rude. You know what? Just for that…” Kim runs back into spawn and changes to Widowmaker, despite the fact that she was currently their only healer on Lucio.

 

“Oh my god, stop,” Jason and Trini say at the same time, disappointed in her choices. She ends up actually playing Widow for a minute before getting yelled at by one of the team members for being bad. (The player left the game after Kim roasted them in team chat for getting no kills with their Dragonblade. Trini was actually impressed, offering a long distance high five.)

 

The clock on Trini’s wall reminded her that she had other things to do, like actual school assignments and laundry. Dinner would be soon and the last thing she wanted was for her mom to start yelling in the middle of a match, so it was time to log off. Billy had to get going soon too, since he promised to help his mother cook dinner.

 

“Can we play more as a team?” Billy asks as they’re saying goodbye. It doesn’t take long for all of them to agree, and Zack would no doubt be in on it too. They’re a solid team, even if they don’t yet have a sixth person to play with. Why give that up? The sound of Billy clapping makes Trini smile.

 

Jason adds an optimistic, “See you guys later, then?”

 

“Definitely!”

 

“Yup.”

 

Trini and Billy both close their games, leaving Jason and Kim behind with no excuses of needing to leave. Rather than queueing them back up for another game, they sit in the menus for a minute as his dad shouts something from somewhere else in the house. He mutes himself momentarily and returns with a huff.

 

“So… Jason,” Kim says, trying to come up with a way to go about this. Throughout their games she’s become more and more positive that this guy is the same Jason as Jason Scott, the ex-football star from her high school. While it was a completely bizarre theory and the odds of it being him were extremely slim, she still had to ask. It was the same voice, and at some point during one of their games he’d mentioned something about hurting his knee — this can’t be a coincidence. “Where are you from?”

 

He replies with a simple, “California.” A beat passes. “Angel Grove, actually.”

 

And the words don’t come as a shock to Kim, but something akin to fear strikes her. There’s no doubt that he knows, otherwise he wouldn’t have added the specific town, right? The issue with that, however, is the fact that everyone in Angel Grove has heard of the name Kimberly Hart, and not for good reasons. She’s the ex-head cheerleader who fell from grace after leaking nudes of her best friend. It destroyed her life, her reputation, and relationships. Now no one can look at her the same way, especially in school, and unfortunately that includes Jason Scott.

 

“That’s what I figured,” Kim responds. She’s nodding her head, even though nobody can actually see her. The bedroom is getting dark now with her curtains tugged closed, yet she can’t be bothered to get up and turn on a single lamp. A disbelieving laugh escapes her mouth and she adds, “What the hell are the odds that we’d run into each other through a video game?”

 

Jason laughs, not quite realizing how nervous she is. “I would’ve thought it was impossible. But I knew it was you the second you mentioned your haircut, actually.”

 

“And complaining about your injured knee was a dead giveaway,” Kimberly says a little more lightheartedly. So far he hasn’t been rude about it, at least. But this is possibly the first time she’s made decent friends online; if they find out about what she did… how will they even react? She can’t afford to lose the first friends she’s made since the incident.

 

“Weird, huh?” Jason mumbles.

 

“Yeah,” is all that Kim says back.

  
“Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but… I don’t care about what you did. You’re a damn good Mercy, that’s what matters,” he jokes, and Kim laughs too, even if the words sound too good to be true. Maybe she could trust him, and maybe she couldn’t. It’s out of her hands now.

 

Somewhere downstairs is the sound of one of Kim’s parents getting home from work, walking around with tired feet and tossing their keys onto the kitchen counter. That’s her cue to go before any questions are asked. They could always discuss this later, possibly even in person if they wanted to.

 

“Thanks, Jason Scott. I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

 

**

 

 

Before Kim left for school that morning, she made sure to stop by her dresser and pick up a silver and orange Overwatch pin she’d purchased a few weeks ago. It was the only merch at GameStop that she could find — but a part of her had still been on the fence about wearing it. Wearing it anywhere near the school was something she hadn’t even considered due to the fact that the only people who openly talked about Overwatch were the chess club and band kids. Kim is trying to be more open-minded though, really, and she’s trying not to let judgement get to her.

 

After making new friends over the weekend, including Jason, she didn’t really see a problem with it. So she put the pin right on the front of her backpack, and smiled when she saw it in the mirror.

 

Her and Jason don’t really cross paths throughout the day. A part of Kim is thankful for their entirely different schedules and the fact that they hardly ever see each other; how was she even supposed to approach the guy? They don’t know each other like that.

 

She’s in Biology struggling to pay attention when her teacher informs the class that they’ll be doing a lab today, requiring partners. For the first time in high school history, Kim tenses up at the words. No one even bothers to  _ look _ in her direction or consider being her partner, not after what she did. Not after all of the rumors and hurtful words.

 

Mr. Hernandez notices how she doesn’t budge from her seat and remains partnerless. He sighs and looks around to scan the classroom until his eyes land on another student in the back row. “Go partner up with her,” he points and motions for her to get up quickly. Kim turns around to follow his gaze and, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a girl in the very back row that Kim didn’t even know existed. Long brown hair with a blonde ombre, big brown eyes, and a yellow beanie sitting on her head. How did Kim never notice her?

 

Regardless, she gathers her belongings and heads to the back as she takes a deep breath.

 

“Hey, um, I need a partner, so…” Kimberly trails off as the other girl doesn’t bother to make eye contact but shrugs anyway.  _ Is that a yes? _

 

Without much of a choice, Kim puts her bookbag down on the floor beside the chair she was now taking, and doesn’t miss how the girl’s eyes follow. It isn’t her that the girl is looking at, actually; the Overwatch pin has her attention. Their teacher comes around to hand out the lab sheets.

 

“Do you play?” Kim asks, trying to start  _ some _ kind of conversation here.

 

“Do  _ you _ ?” The girl questions, an eyebrow raised in added suspicion. Kim is too busy feeling offended to take note on how the girl’s voice sounds weirdly familiar.   
  


“What, because I was a cheerleader I can’t play Overwatch?” Kim shoots back, but there’s no mal intent behind her words. The rhetorical question is more of a challenge than anything else, prompting Kim’s new lab partner to doubt her skills or ability to play in any way. The girl doesn’t say anything though, shrugging again, and they begin to work on their lab in silence.

 

While she’s busy looking into their given microscope, Kim steals a glance from the girl’s worksheet. At the very top it reads  _ Trini Gomez _ , and things feel slightly less weird now that she actually knows her name. She sighs deeply, leaning against the table and staring at the blank spaces on their worksheets. They had plenty of time left, and the material was fairly easy, but Kim could think of a hundred things she’d rather be doing. It didn’t help that Trini was cute, either. (She had probably been staring way too many times already as Trini did a majority of their work alone. Kim couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, letting her bisexual mess of a brain get distracted so easily. If only she could actually focus on the work for longer than three seconds...)

 

Kim brought her pencil to the lab sheet, telling herself that she’d answer the questions on the back so Trini wouldn’t have to. It was the least she could do, considering the other girl was literally doing all of the physical experiment stuff. But the answers... weren’t quite coming to her. So rather than staring at the paper like a dumbass, Kim started doodling in the margins, as if that was any better.

 

It wasn’t her intention to start drawing Mercy’s halo and wings, it just ended up that way. Adding  _ heroes never die _ underneath it was totally intentional, though. Kimberly Hart was never an artist, and she never would be, but it wasn’t half bad.

 

Trini’s hand startles her as she’s staring at the doodle. Before she can actually process it, Trini is drawing something on her paper just below the halo and Kim realizes that she must have been  _ watching _ her do absolutely nothing. She braces for a note that scolds her for spacing out, but the hand disappears after a moment and…

 

There’s now a small, poorly drawn Pharah on her worksheet. Really, it barely even looks like her, but it’s kind of cute so Kim lets it slide. When she looks up at Trini, she’s already back to examining slides under the microscope, as if nothing had happened. Kim ignores the fact that she feels disappointed.

 

They spend the rest of the period working, where Kim actually contributes to the answers and they finish the entire worksheet. No conversation is shared aside from short comments relating to questions, but it isn’t  _ completely _ awkward anymore. It could be worse, she supposes.

 

When the bell rings they exchange unsure smiles and hand in their work, going separate directions for their next classes.

 

Kimberly spends the rest of the day drawing Pharah in her notebook, despite the fact that she’s never touched an offense hero in her life.


	2. keep your silver, give me that gold

Since figuring out that they attend the same high school, Jason and Kim still hardly see each other during the day. Sometimes they’re in the same hallway at the same time, and awkwardly wave or give acknowledging head nods. Jason will start short conversations in passing, usually about Overwatch or something Zack sent on Snapchat, and it’s nice. Having a friend to talk to again lets Kim breathe easier, for the first time in a long while.

 

As for Trini Gomez, Kim can’t deny that she’s been looking at the back of the classroom _way_ too frequently lately. And it’s definitely a problem, because she’d be extremely embarrassed if anyone noticed, especially if it were to be Trini herself. But the girl is cute, okay? She can’t help it.

 

...Even if she won’t talk to Kim, at all. That’s fine. Whatever.

 

Except for the fact that this was definitely bothering Kimberly, considering she’d been the center of attention for as long as she could remember. She wouldn’t even call herself conceited or anything— that’s just how things are when you’re head cheerleader in a tiny high school. The amount of boys that drooled over her was something she’d gotten used to, whether Kim was interested in them or not. It was so easy for people to fall for her. But with this girl— this _crush,_ if she can even call it that yet — it’s a challenge just getting Trini to _look_ at her. Kimberly has no idea how to deal with this, so for now she pretends that this infatuation doesn’t exist.

 

Playing Overwatch is what she looks forward to after school every day, though. These four friends that she’s made are pleasant company, and Kim is always happy to see them all online, ready to get started.

 

But for the past two days, their group has been missing one. Sabertooth, their kickass Pharah that Kim loves to see in the sky during their matches. They’re a fantastic duo, really, working together so well that it felt _wrong_ not to have her there. She just hadn’t been online the first day, so they all just assumed that maybe she was busy; people have things to do other than video games. It was the second day that really started to get them worried. It worried them to think that Sabertooth had just… completely disappeared without any warning.

 

“Do you think she’s okay?” Billy asks, not even upset that the enemy Pharah just destroyed his shield generator. They’re losing, bad, and it probably has something to do with the fact that their Tracer keeps running in without communicating. Not to mention the guy that took Reinhardt instead of Billy, who apparently refuses to protect Kim on Mercy.

 

“Hold on, I’ll send her something on Snapchat,” Zack sighs. They can hear him rummaging around, probably moving things until he can uncover his phone somewhere.

 

“Wait, you have her Snapchat?” Kim frowns as the word _defeat_ pulls up on her screen. These games just aren’t the same without Sabertooth covering her in the air. Luckily they were smart enough not to touch competitive until they found out what was going on, but it still sucked to lose. (Even in quick play.)

 

“Yeah, I was bothering her so much for it that she finally gave it to me,” he laughs proudly. “TGomez77.”

 

...TGomez?

 

Kim shakes her head as the first thought she has is of Trini Gomez, the cute mysterious girl in the back of Bio. There’s no way. It just isn’t possible for them to be the same person— first it was Jason, which was a miracle in itself, but her lab partner? It can’t be, even if there are some weird coincidences between the two. Trini likes Overwatch, and likes Pharah, that much is clear. And if Kim thinks _really_ hard about it, their voices are almost exactly the same (without the distortion of a microphone).

 

No, she can’t think about this right now.

 

“If you want mine, it’s ZackAttackTaylor,” he adds on the topic of Snapchat, and it only makes sense for them to start exchanging their usernames. Kim smiles, because they really are some kind of little friend group now, aren’t they?

 

“Wow. Very original, Zack,” Kim teases.

 

“Oh yeah? What’s yours, Pinky?”

 

“...Pinkhart24.”

 

"Dude, that's even _lamer_ ," Zack says just before laughing.

 

"Shut up!"

 

They all share their handles, including Billy who informs them that he usually doesn’t use Snapchat, but he has one anyway. His username is “billycranston,” and it doesn't take much brainpower to realize that it's his name. Jason shares that his is "varsityreds" and that he's planning on changing it soon. The name doesn't suit him well anymore, with his football career out of the picture. Once they've all sent requests to each other, Kim remembers that Zack mentioned Sabertooth's— _Trini's_ username.

 

She really shouldn't send a request. But after some debating, she does, even if "TGomez77" won't add her back in the end.

 

Because of a very stupid suggestion from Zack, the four of them attempt to play a competitive match or two to see what happens. Immediately, one of their random teammates takes Mercy— leaving Kim with no other option but to play a different support hero that she isn't as polished with. Then they get a Pharah, one who undoubtedly could never fill Sabertooth's shoes, but tries to anyway.

 

And the universe hates them, so Overwatch gave them Lijiang Tower as their map; otherwise known to be one of Kim's and Sabertooth's best Pharmercy maps. Not in the shipping way, but in the _we're going to destroy all of you and you'll never know what hit you_ kind of way.

 

Evidently, they don't perform as well as they'd like to. The Mercy isn't as efficient and they struggle through two rounds before they can finally win one. It's in the fourth round that the Pharah on their team starts acting like an asshole, insulting Jason for missing some of his hooks on Roadhog. They lose, and none of them are very surprised.

 

“Alright let’s just call it a night, and we’ll play more tomorrow," Jason sighs, sitting back in his chair so that it creaks. Everyone else makes sounds of agreement, bummed out by their first loss in a while. "Maybe she’ll show up.”

 

Kim really hopes so, because maybe then she can find answers. Maybe she can connect the dots and determine that, yes, one of her new Overwatch friends is the same girl from Biology that happens to be very cute and somewhat distracting. Or, she’ll find that it was ridiculous to suspect such a thing in the first place, and that it was just… wishful thinking.

 

It takes some time for her to fall asleep that night, so she checks her phone under the covers of her bed and opens Snapchat. The girl still hadn’t added her back, and Kim isn’t sure why she expected anything different.

 

The next day, Kim walks into Biology and her eyes are immediately drawn to the back of the room, expecting to see Trini in her usual seat. Trini isn’t there, though, leaving an empty seat by the window. This strikes Kimberly as odd, because she _swears_ that she saw her at her locker earlier, pulling out a binder and putting books away.

 

Which means that she skipped Biology, for whatever reason.

 

Biology is one of the most boring classes in Angel Grove High School, mostly due to their teacher’s lack of enthusiasm in his lessons. It makes sense that anyone would want to skip this class, today and forever. But with the timing of it and the mystery of Sabertooth not playing with them for the past two days, there’s no way that this is a coincidence. Kim is onto something, and she isn’t letting it go that easily.

 

After school, she spots Jason closing his locker and heading towards one of the main exits. Before she can even think about it, she jogs up to him and pulls him aside by the sleeve of his denim jacket, out of the way of passing students. His face shows nothing but confusion and surprise, and Kimberly remembers that, well, they haven't actually had a full face to face conversation yet. This is the first time they’re legitimately interacting in person and Kim is already acting like they’re good friends, albeit accidental.

  
“Jason.” Kim says firmly, because she has no other idea on how to start this conversation.

 

“Kimberly.”

 

She looks around at the people filing out of the school building, as if busy thinking of ways to phrase what she wants to say. Which is exactly what she's doing, mind you, considering that this will probably make her sound ridiculous.

 

“Did, uh… something happen? Do you need something?” Jason asks, honestly confused and now somewhat concerned by Kim's silence. It must be something very personal or important for her to—

 

“I think a girl in my Biology class is Sabertooth.”

 

And, okay, that's not what he was expecting.

 

“You do realize that’s… insane, right?” Jason questions, smiling and still extremely confused. If his words came out sounding rude, he didn't intend for it.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I do. But seriously,” Kim says, and is only slightly embarrassed about how stupid this all sounds. Slightly. She shifts the bookbag strap on her shoulder to rest more comfortably. “Her name is Trini Gomez. TGomez77? Ring a bell?”

 

“Wow, it’s almost like people can have similar names throughout the world...” Jason says. It earns him a slap on the shoulder from Kim, and he's taken aback by how much strength she has. (Must be because of the whole cheerleading history.)

 

“Shut up," she rolls her eyes and sighs. "She likes Overwatch, and she drew Pharah on my lab sheet. And now she's skipping Biology, the only class we have together.”

 

“Alright, that does sound like a decent argument. But, Kim, this is already… crazy as is, you know?" Jason shrugs, gesturing to the world around him. "We literally ran into each other in a videogame without planning it. And you think _three_ of us go to the same school now?”

 

“Yes!” Kim is totally serious about this, but it's clear that he isn’t judging by the way Jason laughs in response. “You think I’m out of my mind.”

 

Jason shakes his head, thinking for a moment. “Look, it’s far fetched but… I guess it isn’t impossible.”

 

Kim lets out a breath that she wasn't even aware that she was holding. She's just satisfied that she doesn’t sound completely absurd with this... conspiracy theory about the cute girl from Biology. Students walking by keep giving them weird stares, most likely perplexed by the fact that two ex-popular people are conversing out in the open. Like it’s some kind of crime. Kim ignores them, nodding slowly to repeat Jason's words in her mind. _It isn’t impossible_.

 

They’re about to leave when Kim stops and turns to ask, “Do you have detention this Saturday?”

 

“Yeah. Unfortunately,” Jason says, and pulls out the keys to his truck from the depths of his pocket.

 

“I’ll see you there, then,” Kim shrugs. Detention sucks, but at least she knows someone else who will be trapped there with her now.

 

“And you’ll see me on Overwatch once I get home.”

 

“Right. See you, Jason.”

 

**

 

Trini takes in a deep breath as she opens Battle.net on her computer, and stares nervously at the Play Overwatch button. She hasn’t been online in a few days, not since…

 

Well, since Kimberly Hart.

 

It was already a weird situation when Mr. Hernandez paired them up together, mostly because Trini had been crushing on the girl for months now. She was hot and head cheerleader, how could she not? She’s a hopeless lesbian, really. And Trini had always assumed that this would be one of those passing high school crushes, one that would disappear over time because she never stood a chance.

 

But then Kimberly— _Kim_ _—_ had that Overwatch pin, and things were finally starting to connect.

 

The familiarity of the voice, the matching name, obsession with the color pink, cheerleading history, and now the pin. All of the evidence was there to prove that Kimberly Ann Hart, the most popular girl in Angel Grove, was the same person as PinkPoison.

 

And that was enough to terrify her.

 

So she avoided playing Overwatch and she avoided Biology class with a passion, just to escape thinking about this unusual situation. It shouldn't be possible, and yet Trini is completely convinced that it is. What is she supposed to do now, though? Talk to Kim as if she’s never had this revelation, and go on ignoring her blatant crush?

 

Zack has been spamming her with snaps though, and she should've blocked him by now, but they’re friends and she would actually feel bad about doing that at this point. Her phone lights up on her desk with yet another snapchat from Zack then, and the notifications are seriously starting to pile up.

 

_ZackAttackTaylor (78)_

 

Well fuck, she can’t avoid them forever.

 

Trini lets her thumb hover over the phone's lockscreen before she opens the app for the first time in a while, expecting to open it and simply clear the snaps. The sooner Zack gets the hint that she doesn't want to respond, the better. But there was another notification that he hadn't been expecting; only Zack knew what her username was out of all of them, and was the only person to actively send things. Yet apparently _Pinkhart24_ added her as a friend, and it doesn’t take her very long to figure out how that could be. Trini refused to even acknowledge how her heartbeat had picked up a faster pace upon seeing the name, or how hard she'd started to bite her bottom lip.

 

Kimberly totally knows. There’s no way she doesn’t.

 

And Trini can’t exactly keep running away from this.

 

So with a brief wave of bravery, she hits the play button and watches the game window open. The menu music begins to play through her headphones, and the screen has been loaded in for roughly two seconds by the time Trini gets a group invite. It's from Billy, and _of course_ it's Billy, because she could never say no to him. She spares a glance at Widowmaker on the menus screen, hoping that the sniper would just come to life and talk some sense into her. If only.

 

Since she's already come this far, Trini accepts the request and joins the group. Everyone begins to talk at once the second they see her name, saying hello and asking questions about why she hasn’t been on. Jason tries to get everyone to calm down and not talk over each other, but no one can even hear him.

 

Finally there's a moment where Billy asks, "Where have you been? We were actually pretty worried about you."

 

"Uh," she tenses in her computer chair, scrambling to make up some kind of lie. "My mom yelled at me the other day for being on the computer too much. Took away my computer.”

 

"Laaaaame!" Zack shouts, as if his mic wasn't already loud enough. "Let’s play! We’ve been losing without you, T.”

 

“Did you just call me T?” Trini says with a frown.

 

“Your snapchat says TGomez,” he explains as Billy puts them into a queue, "and I have no idea what your name is."

 

Without missing a beat, Kimberly cuts into their conversation with, "What _is_ your name?" And suddenly the voice chat is silent. Everyone is either waiting for Trini's response, or they're thinking about how quick Kim was to ask, maybe both, and it's extremely awkward. _Kill me now_ , Trini thinks, staring at the indifferent Widowmaker on her screen. _Snipe me. Please._

 

"Uh..." Trini swallows, inhaling and preparing to take this head on. She can do this. All she has to do is say her name, and everything will work out somehow.

 

Suddenly the sound of their competitive match beginning blares, a dramatic sound followed by music as their usernames appear on the screen. In the background is the scenery of Oasis, a king of the hill map.

 

"Aw, man, I hate Oasis!" Billy says, and Zack mumbles something in agreement. Character selection loads in, and suddenly the topic has shifted to what they’d like their team composition to be. Trini can thank Jason for taking charge and telling them what they should each choose, and she breathes a bit easier now that the attention is no longer on her. (Though Kim is probably still thinking about it, not planning on letting this go until she gets an answer. At least it can wait.)

 

Their team looks the same as usual: Kim on Mercy, Billy on Reinhardt, Zack on Zenyatta, Jason on Soldier: 76. Trini is hovering over Pharah's face when their random teammate selects Reaper, ultimately deciding to be their second damage hero.

 

"Should I switch?" Jason asks, already deselecting Soldier. Everyone knows that she's best on Pharah, and is sometimes the only factor that saves them when a point is being compromised. "I can go tank."

 

When he picks Roadhog, Trini must make a sound of confusion that makes the others laugh. What the hell did she miss for _Jason_ to be playing something other than DPS? Either way, it’s useful, because they never know when they’ll have to switch up their roles.

 

"Believe it or not, he's a pretty good Roadhog now," Zack says. She figures that within the few days that she'd been avoiding Overwatch like the plague, the four of them must have gotten a lot of practice. "Once he's in the zone, no one can escape Jace's hook."

 

"In the zone?" Jason repeats, laughing.

 

"Yeah, dude. When you get on those killstreaks and the enemy team starts to freak out. It's sick." Zack speaks before slurping on a drink, making Trini cringe. The timer until round one is counting down as Athena announces: _5, 4, 3, 2, 1_ ...

 

_Attack the objective._

 

"Game plan?" Billy questions as the spawn doors open, releasing them into round one.

 

Immediately, Jason takes on the role of their leader. "We all go right, up the stairs, flank them and fight on point. Trini will focus their supports, and we need to help her."

 

It's in moments like this that Trini thinks that Jason was a natural born leader. He's always quick to make decisions that could make or break the match, and knows how to keep their minds focused. Not to mention that their respect for him as significantly grown since day one (when Zack and Trini doubted his skills, because unfortunately they were quick to judge). Maybe in another life Jason could do something more with his leadership skills. Something more than guiding a group of teenagers to victory in a video game.

 

"They have an Ana and Lucio. I'll focus the Ana first," Trini announces, flying into the air and firing rockets at the enemy healer. In the corner of her screen, Kim's name pops up as she flies towards her to damage boost. Billy manages to charge the enemy Mei, eliminating her instantly. Everyone praises him for the successful pick. Soon after, Trini blasts poor grandma Ana into oblivion with one final rocket, forcing the enemy team to back off unless they wanted to die.

 

"Nice work," Jason says. "We stay on the point. Our Reaper can flank if he wants to, as long as he doesn't get himself killed."

 

Zack sends his harmony orb over to their Reaper who teleports somewhere to the left, most likely planning to flank one of the other tanks. The sound of footsteps catches Trini's attention and she turns in time to see an enemy Genji behind the point, throwing shurikens in Kim's direction.

 

"Fly up here," Trini suggests, and Kim does so just as the Genji attempts to dash by her. But the distraction is enough for the enemy Mei to get a lucky snipe on Trini, eliminating her. She frowns as she stares at the replay of her death. Jason laughs in the background. "What? That was total bullshit."

 

"They're going to push. Kim, get ready to hide for a good ult," he says then, throwing a hook at the enemy Genji. "Billy, try to save your Earthshatter for when Trini gets back with her Barrage; you two can combo for a team wipe."

 

“Got it, _captain_ ,” Trini says, with a playful emphasis on the title. (And none of them quite realized it at the time, but this might’ve been the first moment that truly recognized their group as a team.)

 

They continue to play and the match is intense; they win that first round easily, but the next two are a different story. The enemy Mei switched to McCree, and was way too good at shooting Trini down from the sky, even with Kim by her side. The Genji switched to Reaper, which became a problem for Jason when he was too slow to counter a Reaper's up close shots. It gets down to an even 2-2, meaning that their victory lies in this final round.

 

Where they officially dropped the ball, they're not sure. It was going so well, but then the enemy team was able to combo and wipe Jason, Billy, and Kim out easily multiple times. They just couldn't get their own momentum going again. The point is currently at 99% for the enemy team, sending the round into a stressful Overtime. And Trini can say that she was fighting very hard, really, but then the enemy McCree had snuck behind them and struck with Deadeye.

 

...Fucking McCree and his stupid high noons.

 

But Kim has her ultimate up, and if she can get there in time she can —

 

The enemy Reinhardt charges forward just as Kim flies to the point, catching her in what may be the luckiest pin of all time. The timer runs out, and that’s the end of the game.

 

_Defeat._

 

“Sorry guys. I guess my head just… isn’t in it today,” Kim comments, sighing. If only she'd been paying more attention to the enemy team, or if she had better timing with the guardian angel fly...

 

"Hey, Kim, it's fine. That Reinhardt just got extremely lucky," Billy says. The cards appear on screen, and the only person on their team to get one is Kim. 25,000 healing is fucking impressive, even if they've seen Kim perform that well before. "See? You did great! It was just one game, it's okay if you got distracted."

 

Trini can totally understand that, so she hums in agreement.

 

The five of them play two more games, which go relatively better, despite how close they end up being. They win, which is fortunate for them — but it's never by a landslide, and none of them do extraordinarily well. Trini sighs, because she knows that she isn't focusing the way she should be. But she can't, not when Kim is always up in the sky with her and thanking her whenever Trini shoots down the enemy Soldier that desperately wants to kill them.

 

"Maybe we should take a break?" Jason says after their second game, pulling them out of the match quickly to sit in the menus. When no one protests, he continues, "I'll be on in two hours, if any of you are up for playing later. I have to go help my dad out with something anyway."

Everyone closes the game, with promises to return later in the evening after dinner. Trini exhales as soon as Overwatch is gone, leaving her in a peaceful silence. That could have gone much worse. Really, she was almost expecting them all to be mad at her for disappearing, even moreso after her poor gameplay today. They always manage to surprise her, though.

 

A low notification ding takes her by surprise, and a Battle.net chat box opens up. It blinks in orange at her from the taskbar, flashing to entice Trini into opening it for a message. Her breath catches when she clicks it and realizes that the message is from Kimberly.

 

Oh no.

 

 **[PinkPoison]:** okay so i might be wrong about this but i honestly believe that we know each other

 **[PinkPoison]:** and maybe we don’t but if we do i have a feeling you’ve realized it too

 

Shit, Trini was right. She does know, after all of this time, that they go to the same high school. How the fuck is Trini supposed to just ignore this now?

 

She can't, really.

 **[Sabertooth]:** yeah you’re kimberly hart

 **[Sabertooth]:** right?

 **[PinkPoison]:** and you’re trini, my lab partner

 **[Sabertooth]:** this is weird

 **[PinkPoison]:** it really is

 **[PinkPoison]:** god what are even the odds of this

 **[Sabertooth]:** idk, probably ridiculously slim

 **[PinkPoison]:** i wouldn't have even figured it out if it weren't for zack telling us your snapchat

 **[PinkPoison]:** tgomez77? could you have been more obvious??

 **[Sabertooth]:** wow thanks pinkhart24 i don't need this from you

 **[PinkPoison]:** oh come on it's a cute username don't lie

 **[Sabertooth]:** sure

 

Another message isn’t sent for a while, and Trini has a feeling that they both spend a good three minutes just staring at their own screens, waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Kim starts to type something back.

 

 **[PinkPoison]:** i’ll see you in bio? skipping multiple times can’t be good for your grade ;)

 

The message actually makes Trini smile, and it relieves some of the anxiousness in her stomach.

 

 **[Sabertooth]:** yeah yeah w/e. i’ll see you in bio  
**[PinkPoison]:** okay  <3

 **[PinkPoison]** has gone offline.

 

**

 

Trini goes to Bio, as promised. It doesn't escape her that Kim keeps looking back during class, offering a smile whenever they make eye contact. There's something so surreal about it, too, like this is all some kind of really long dream. Kimberly Hart, prettiest girl in Angel Grove, keeps looking at her. _Trini_. They became friends over a video game and now they're sharing these weird moments of staring and not paying full attention to the actual class.

 

She knew this was going to be difficult, but not this difficult. Trini is way too gay for this.

 

The bell rings and snaps her out of a sleepy daze (because Mr. Hernandez might be the most boring man on this planet). Trini shoves her notebook and worksheets into her bag and rushes to the door, hoping to get out of the room before Kimberly can catch up.

 

Apparently Kim was anticipating it, though, because she catches Trini just as she reaches the doorway.

 

"Hey," Kim starts, holding a pink binder against her chest. The papers inside are sticking out, as if she'd quickly shoved them in there. Meanwhile, Trini is staring at her with her mouth slightly open, trying to decide on words. "I just thought we could talk, you know? What class do you have?"

 

"Calculus," Trini says with a grimace.

 

"Great! I have to walk that way too," Kim says. The math classrooms are in a completely different direction from Kimberly's next class, so she'd be very late if she took that route. But one lie couldn't hurt, right? (Because Trini isn't the only gay mess here.)

 

As they walk through the crowds of students, the pair gets a series of weird looks and Trini doesn't miss the way some cheerleaders start to whisper things. It must be odd, seeing Kim with a nobody, chatting as if they've been friends for years. The attention is definitely unwanted, but Kim gives her a reassuring smile as they turn a corner.

 

"I know this is kind of weird, but we're friends, right?" Kim asks, her eyes suddenly focused on the floor beneath their feet. The question has been on Trini's mind since yesterday, and after some careful thought she nods. In a weird way, yes, they are friends. Kimberly smiles so brightly at that, the confirmation that this won't be some awkward cycle of acting like they don't know each other, and Trini almost melts at how cute it is.

 

They're almost at Trini's classroom when Kim points across the hall and says, "Look, it's Jason!"

 

Trini follows with her eyes, landing on Jason Scott and mumbling, "Jason...?"

 

And she goes through, maybe, seven emotions all at once as the realization hits her. The expressions on her face must change drastically, because Kim notices and purses her lips. "I... forgot to mention that, huh?"

 

"This is crazy," Trini says, shaking her head. They stop in front of her calculus room.

 

"We can talk more later, okay?" Kim smiles hopefully, and Trini knows she could never turn down such an offer.

 

The rest of the day is somewhat of a blur, because Trini pays very little attention to any of her classes. It isn't too bad, because she knows she'll do fine on any quizzes or exams in the future, so she can't be bothered to worry. Instead, she tries to comprehend all of the information she's learned over the past two days.

 

When Trini gets home from school, the first thing she does is pull out a history assignment that needs to be finished. (You were expecting her to play Overwatch, weren't you? Homework is important too, sometimes.) Anything history related is easy, especially if you just google the answers. Dates are the easiest to find— it's just the memorizing part that Trini struggles with. She's typing one of the homework questions into the search bar when another Battle.net chatbox opens.

 

Of course it's from Kim.

 

 **[PinkPoison]:** hey!

 

Trini replies quickly, probably _too_ quickly, and they end up discussing how weird of a coincidence it is that three of them are from the same high school. She's still trying to process that PinkPoison is Kimberly, and now Jason?

  
**[Sabertooth]:** does jason know?  
**[PinkPoison]:** yeah  
**[PinkPoison]:** he's just as shocked as we are  
**[Sabertooth]:** i don't blame him  
**[PinkPoison]:** me neither

  
A minute or two passes, and Trini remembers that she has homework assignments to do. This history worksheet isn't going to finish itself, even if there's only a few questions remaining. Then there's an online math quiz to do, and a project for English to begin...

 

 **[PinkPoison]:** want to join me in qp?? :)

 

God damnit.

 

 **[Sabertooth]:** sure give me a sec to get on

 

Overwatch with a cute girl: Trini's biggest weakness.

 

**

 

“Okay, guys, hear me out," Zack says in the middle of their match, just before getting killed by an enemy Winston. "I met this guy yesterday, and he's a pretty good support.”

 

“Zack, you said that about the last guy and he ended up being an asshole," Kim replies, flying in to ressurect three of them on the point. A few days ago Zack had insisted on inviting some guy he met in a match, and the group decided to let him join for a game. It started off okay, but then there had been a slew of sexist comments and usage of slurs that resulted in Jason kicking him out.

 

“This one is nice, seriously! I think he’d be good to have on the team until we find somebody… you know, better." Zack hits the Q button on his keyboard, activating Dragonblade behind the enemy lines. Before they could realize what was happening, he eliminated both of their healers. Their conversation switches to gameplay as Billy throws out some defensive strategies.

 

They win their match, and all of them are ranked high platinum, bordering diamond. It's amazing how fast they've been able to move up over the past week. No one outright says it, but they all figure that it's because Trini came back to complete their team again. Well, _almost_ complete. They really want to hit diamond, and it would be so much easier with a sixth man. This game is basically all about communication and teamwork, after all...

 

"Alright, Zack," Jason says as they sit in the menus. "We can give your guy a chance.”

 

Zack cheers excitedly into his mic, assuring them that they wouldn't regret it. Soon he sends a group invite to someone with the battletag IronBison, and they join after a few moments go by. "He doesn’t have a mic, but he's a good Ana and Lucio," Zack explains. The first thing they all notice is the new guy's Pachimari icon, cute and not intimidating in the slightest. “His name is, uh…” he trails off, because he's already forgot his name.

 

 **[IronBison]:** danny :)

 

“Danny! That’s it. Yeah, this is Danny.”

 

"Okay then. Welcome to the group, Danny," Jason says, and he sounds so fatherly that it makes Trini laugh.

 

They play for two hours straight, winning easily now that they have a full group. Random players aren't always too bad, but sometimes they refuse to talk or, even worse, throw when things don't go their way. Danny is pretty great at Ana, and Kim tells him so after Billy destroys the enemy team with a nanoboost during one match. Eventually all of them hit diamond (except for Danny, who is still in platinum) and they suggest taking a break to celebrate.

 

"Do you guys think we can hit Master next?" Billy asks, clapping softly. Now that they've gotten to diamond, there are only two ranks left above them: master and grandmaster. Essentially, those two ranks are reserved for the best of the best— the pros who stream every day and enter gaming tournaments. They aren't ready for that yet, but maybe they will be if they work hard enough for it.

 

"We'll see, Billy. I think we could, eventually," Jason says, and Kim agrees. "For now, let's just be excited that we made it this far."

 

And they spend fifteen minutes sitting there, talking in the voice chat about how well they've been doing or complimenting each other on individual achievements. Zack has improved his Zenyatta gameplay, and everyone has noticed that he spends more time healing people now. Billy lands really good firestrikes, to the point where the accuracy of them shouldn't even be possible. He says that it's easy, once you learn how to carefully predict where people are going to move (but the enemy teams refuse to believe that). Overall, they're an impressive team.

 

Zack is in the middle of telling a funny story, with all of them in hysterical laughter, when there's a heavy knock on Trini's door.

 

Her heart stops instantly, and before she has time to react, her mother is barging in with a frown that Trini knows all too well.

 

"Who are you talking to? Didn't I tell you to get off of the computer? You're on it way too much!" June shouts, and Trini is scrambling to hit the 'mute mic' button on her keyboard. "Have you finished your homework? Trinity Valentina Gomez, answer me when I'm speaking to you."

 

Only once her microphone is muted does Trini turn around to face her mother. "I'm just playing a game, mamá."

 

"And did you finish your homework?"

 

She pauses, because, yeah, she totally forgot about that. "Yes."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

" _Yes_ , mamá! I didn't have a lot of homework today." Trini sighs, folding her arms over her chest. Her mother stares her down for a moment, eyes only briefly shifting to the menu screen on the computer, before leaving the room with a huff. At least she remembers to shut the door behind her.

 

When she finally unmutes herself, a few of the others are talking about character lore (and Danny is typing). Trini can't bring herself to contribute anything to the conversation, though. Her mom, for the millionth time, has just ruined her entire mood. But she hopes that none of them noticed her mom's voice or even _cared_ , and that they’ll just let it go without saying anything.

 

Of course, Kim is the one to message her privately.

 

 **[PinkPoison]:** are you okay?

 **[Sabertooth]:** yeah

 **[PinkPoison]:** i heard yelling

 **[PinkPoison]:** parents?

 **[Sabertooth]:** yeah

 **[PinkPoison]:** if you need to talk i’m willing to listen?

 **[Sabertooth]:** thanks but not right now

 **[PinkPoison]:** okay

 **[PinkPoison]:** just remember that i'm all ears

 **[PinkPoison]:** <3

 

They go on to play a round of quick play, but even then Trini isn’t interested in speaking very often.

 

**

 

On Friday, Trini walks into Biology half asleep from having to endure an hour of health class. She doesn't even realize, until she's halfway through the classroom, that Kimberly is sitting next to Trini's usual seat. The girl is writing something down on a piece of paper, not noticing Trini's presence.

 

She approaches Kim cautiously, stiff as she adjusts the straps of her bookbag. “Uh… do we have a lab today or something?” This grabs her attention instantly, grinning up at Trini.

 

“No, I just...” Kim shrugs, “I thought you could use company back here.”

 

Trini just nods and sits, accepting the answer even though the words kicked her heartbeat into overdrive. The bell rings, signalling that class is to officially begin, and she hopes that this will mean limited interaction with the cute girl beside her.

 

Roughly five minutes into the period, Kim slides a note in front of Trini. It's written on a folded piece of loose leaf and all it says is "hello." Trini rolls her eyes, writing a response quickly while Mr. Hernandez is trying to figure out his powerpoint.

 

_What, are we in sixth grade again passing notes?_

 

The reply from Kim is just as fast, and this time the piece of paper is thrown at Trini's head.

 

_Shut up!! I just thought it would be fun. >:( _

 

It is pretty dumb, but Trini supposes that this couldn't be too bad. They spend another twenty minutes writing back and forth, filling up more than half of the paper with comments and jokes. Trini writes something about wanting to watch the Babadook on Netflix later, mostly because of the sudden hype for the movie on social media. Then Kim suggests that they watch it together, and her mouth goes dry because it sounds a lot like a date (which is a ridiculous thought), but agrees to it anyway. Kimberly writes next:

 

_I bet Zack looks like the Babadook_

 

Trini nearly laughs loud enough to bring attention to them, but catches herself by planting a hand over her mouth. Nothing in the world could make her laugh harder than roasting Zack Taylor.

 

_I would've thought so too, but unfortunately I've seen his face in snapchats._

 

_What DOES he look like???_

 

Kim passes the note back, and watches as Trini pulls out a pencil and starts to draw on their shared piece of paper. Despite the fact that they'd all added each other on Snapchat, they didn't send many pictures to each other. Most of them were blurs or pictures of their feet anyway. The teacher is saying something about cells, with at least twelve bullet points on the board that make no sense. Paying attention would probably help, but Kim knows she screwed herself over the second she chose to sit next to Trini today.

 

Then the paper is being slid back to her, Trini biting her lip as a giggle threatens to spill from her mouth.

 

Kim snorts in a quieted bit of laughter, which causes a student or two to turn around, but she doesn't care much about that. She's laughing at Trini’s drawing which, instead of a person or realistic depiction of Zack's face, is just a little gremlin. A true, amazing work of art.

 

She hears Trini's phone buzz just before her own does, yanking them out of their own little bubble. Carefully, Kim pulls her phone out from her pocket when Hernandez is looking at the other side of the room and checks the notification. It's a snap sent from the gremlin Zack himself, just a few seconds ago.

 

"What is it?" Trini whispers, as hushed as possible, leaning closer to sneak a peek at Kim's phone screen. Even though the close proximity throws Kimberly off completely, she unlocks her phone and opens up whatever Zack sent them. It's a screenshot of some gaming website, advertising an upcoming Overwatch tournament with a $100,000 prize pool. The qualifiers are in two weeks, and those who qualify will be flown out to LA for the event. They both take their time reading, and it's a wonder how the teacher doesn’t notice.

 

After turning off her screen, Kim grabs their note again and writes:

 

_Do you think we could actually win something like that???_

 

Trini stares at it momentarily, thinking, and eventually writes a response that sticks with Kim for a very long time.

 

_Well if there’s anything we’ve learned this week, it’s that anything is possible._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the feedback for this fic so far has been amazing! Thank you all very much, I appreciate all of the comments and kudos :)
> 
> A few references in this chapter:  
> -Danny/IronBison is Danny Delgado, AKA the Black Ranger from Power Rangers: Wild Force. I've been playing a lot of Legacy Wars and he's pretty awesome.  
> -Trini's middle name, Valentina, is taken from Becky G's character on Empire.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hmu @ cabooseachievables on tumblr! (And shout out to bisexualpowerranger again for being my beta. <3)


	3. heart is pumping, as the battle gets closer

 

Trini runs into Kim again after school, catching up to her despite all of the weird stares and hushed comments thrown their way. (Comments like: _since when did Kimberly Hart have friends again?_ Or, _who is that girl? Is she new?_ The usual. Nothing that actually shocks Trini.) She smiles as soon as Kimberly does, and desperately swats away the weird fluttering thing her heart does.

 

“Overwatch tomorrow?” Trini asks, a slight curl in the corner of her lips. They’re walking towards the student parking lot even though Kim is the only one with a car. Students just pass by them quickly heading for their respective vehicles, eager to head home for the weekend..

 

“I can’t in the morning, I have detention. And I think Jace does too,” Kim sighs. Playing Overwatch would be a million times better than sitting in a stuffy classroom with a bunch of edgy teens, but it’s a price that she has to pay. “Mayber after?”

 

“Wow. That’s lame,” Trini says, fixing the beanie on her head. Once they reach Kim’s car, she continues walking and only turns to offer a two-fingered salute as goodbye. “See you.”

 

“Wait!” Kim blurts out before she can even think twice about it, and bites her lip nervously when Trini stops. “Do you want a ride home?”

 

It’s a pleasant surprise when Trini accepts the offer, and Kimberly makes a mental note to do this more often. Especially if it means that the two of them can be around each other without the excuse of class and gaming, and no boys around either.

 

**

 

“First time in detention?” Jason asks as him and Kim walk down the hallway, backpacks thrown over their shoulders. It’s much too early in the morning and neither of them really want to be there, but they have no choice. Fortunately, the two were dropped off at the same time by their parents and met up outside of the school. Kim nods silently, a little too lost in thought to truly respond. He understands, though, and mumbles a _yeah, me too_.

 

They get to the detention room and immediately frown at how depressing the atmosphere of it is; everyone looks tired and irritated, while a majority of the room is directing some extremely shady looks in their direction. Kim just shrugs as they exchange looks between each other. What can they do, right?

 

Jason sits down in one of the front row desks, ignoring any shouts or comments thrown his way. All of the kids here are… punks, to say the least. The typical delinquent students you’d see in a Disney channel movie with dark clothes and an attitude. There _is_ one exception, however, being a boy in the corner with an assortment of pencils lined up on his desk. Kim sits a couple of seats away from Jason, close enough to pass notes if they get bored.

 

The detention teacher comes in looking horrible with a coffee in hand, most likely hating his life (but who doesn’t, though). He groans and sits down, pulling out his notebook with the roster for today’s session.

 

“Alright,” he booms, the hushes of other students instantly silenced. “If I say your name, just say present.”

 

As the names begin to get called, Kimberly can already feel herself dozing off from the boredom. Jason is just scribbling in his notebook, not actually writing anything of importance. The ticking clock on the wall is the most entertaining thing in this room right now, despite its very broken little hand and cracked glass.

 

“Billy Cranston?”

 

...Scratch that. Kim is paying full attention now, actually.

 

Judging by the way Jason has tensed up in his seat, it’s obvious that they’re sharing the same thought. He turns to find Kimberly with wide eyes, and together they turn slightly to look across the room.

 

There is no fucking way.

 

But the boy with organized pencils raises his hand and replies, “I’m present, sir.”

 

The voice is _exactly_ what they were expecting, because the Reinhardt main’s voice is something they’ve become very familiar with after their hours of practicing. And now they’re staring at each other, kind of terrified considering the odds of this happening are… so miniscule that this shouldn’t even be possible. Yet they’ve already found Trini, right? Who’s to say that finding Billy is impossible?

 

“Kimberly Hart?”

 

She barely even registers her name, her hand simply raising on instinct, because both of their eyes are glued to Billy. He has no visible reaction to the name, already occupied with sorting more pencils that were in his bag.

 

It can’t be… and yet, it’s the same name he gave them for his snapchat, and the voice is unmistakable.

 

Both of them spend the rest of detention internally freaking out and silently screaming at each other with wild gestures and expressions. At one point, Jason just chucks a folded note at her that only reads “WTF?” written in bold letters. She just shakes her head before slipping it into her pocket to throw out later. They really need to talk to Billy as soon as possible.

 

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the teacher speaks up. “Alright, you’re all dismissed. See you next Saturday.”

 

Jason and Kim practically jump out of their seats, their chairs squeaking against the floor obnoxiously as they gather their things. Before her nerves could get the best of her, Kimberly strolls over to where Billy is carefully packing away his belongings. Jason follows not too long after. They glance at each other and nod for encouragement.

 

“Um… hey, Billy,” Jason says.

 

Billy looks up and gives them a shy smile. “Hi Jason, hi Kimberly.”

 

“Look, this might be kind of weird, but we were just wondering if you were--” Kim steps up, determined to figure this out.

 

“Billy from Overwatch?” He finishes her sentence while putting away his items, not even looking up at them. It’s a shame, because he misses the way Jason’s jaw drops and how Kim looks completely flabbergasted. “Yeah, I am. Speaking of which, did you two want to come over for dinner? My mom really wants to meet you guys.”

 

“Wait, wait,” Jason stops him, holding up a hand. “How long did you know it was us?”

 

Billy pauses, scrunching his nose and thinking, before he determines, “A few days, actually.” He finishes putting away his things while they just stare at him, unsure of where to go with this. Of course Billy has been aware of this odd situation-- it’s easy for him to deduce these kind of things.

 

“Did you know about Trini, too?” Kim asks, and makes sure not to dwell on the fact that Trini was one of her initial thoughts.

 

“Oh! Does she also go here?” Billy says excitedly, a grin on his face. Despite it all being very unbelievable, he seems thrilled about the fact that they all live so close to each other. (Well, almost all of them. Zack is still a wild card that they haven’t quite gotten to know yet, and Danny mentioned something about living in Texas.)

 

“Yeah, she’s in my Biology class,” she nods, and looks around to realize that the three of them are now the only ones left in the detention room. They end up talking more freely after that, exchanging information like their phone numbers and agreeing to hang out more often from here on out. The amount of Krispy Kreme they’ll be getting in the future definitely won’t be healthy.

 

And it feels so different to Kimberly, really, because a lot of time has passed since she had such genuine friends. Hell, she can’t even remember the last time anyone was actually excited to talk to her. Yet Billy is just chatting away to the both of them, this wide smile of his growing bigger every second and she returns it so _naturally_.

 

“So are you coming over for dinner? I would have to tell my mom ahead of time,” Billy explains, checking the time on his watch.

 

“Yeah. Of course, Billy,” Jason says. He pats his friend lightly on the shoulder, vaguely remembering something about Billy not being comfortable with excessive physical contact. It doesn’t seem to bother him.

 

They’re on their way outside of the school building when Billy brings up the fact that their Overwatch tournament is coming up very soon. There’s still a lot to do-- according to him, at least. They have to come up with better strategies and get used to how other professionals play; with a big prize pool, more prominent gaming teams would definitely be participating. Jason assures him that they’ll discuss this later, as a group, and the three of them eventually part ways.

 

It’s 5:00PM when they go over to Billy’s house for dinner. Kim gets there just a few minutes later than Jason, who is still putting his jacket on a coatrack when Billy’s mother invites her inside.

 

“Thank you for having us over, Ms. Cranston,” Jason says, shoving his hands awkwardly into the front pockets of his jeans.

 

“Please, call me Candace!” His mom insists, and returns to the kitchen before motioning for the teens to follow her. Immediately, Kim is hit with the aroma of chicken being baked in the oven. She didn’t even notice how hungry she was until now, with the way her stomach growls loudly in response. “Dinner is almost ready. It’ll be another ten minutes, alright kids?”

 

“Okay mom,” Billy says with a smile directed at his mother. It’s sweet to see him so close with her, especially considering how _kind_ she is. After this, there’s no questioning where Billy got his personality from. (And it’s a sharp contrast from Kim’s own mother, Maddie. They haven’t exactly gotten along since the Amanda incident, and Kim can’t even remember the last time they had a full conversation.)

 

In the meantime to keep his two guests busy, Billy brings them down to his basement where all of his equipment is set up. Initially, most of it just looks like junk, organized around the room on old wooden shelves. But then, in the midst of his junkyard, is a computer.

 

Not just any computer, though. It looks expensive, like Billy must have paid for each part of it individually and the entirety was worth more than Kim and Jason’s computers combined. While the computer is quite massive, the monitor is sleek and the size of a small TV screen.

 

“This is awesome, Billy,” Kim mumbles, impressed by the machine.

 

“It took a few years to find the right parts, but it works great now!” He says as he starts it up. The machine starts to make a low whirring sound, while parts of it light up in a neon blue. “Blue isn’t my favorite color, but I got a great deal on these parts. I was able to get a really great graphics card, too.”

 

He starts to talk about more of the computer parts, immediately losing Kim and Jason as soon as the bigger words come out. They try to follow along though, vaguely, nodding their heads to show Billy that they’re listening.

 

Candace comes to their rescue a few minutes later, calling them upstairs once dinner had finished cooking. They spend a whole hour talking while eating and Jason makes sure to compliment how good the meal is. Kim quickly agrees, and soon they’re moving on to the topic of how they met online and the probability of everything going on. Some incredibly odd number is thrown out by Billy, and all she can tell from it is that the probability is very low (because when a number starts with a decimal and multiple zeros, that can’t be good.)

 

“So Jason, Kim, what do you two do outside of video games?” Candace asks. The question makes Jason stiffen in his seat, unsure how to react to it. Everyone in Angel Groves knows about the cow incident, and that Jason Lee Scott lost all hopes for his football career. Surely Billy’s mom must know about it too.

 

“I, um… was doing some sports. But now I’m just, uh, focusing on my grades.” Jason manages out a decent enough response without directly bringing up football or his mistakes. When he turns to Kim, she seems to be having the same inner crisis.

 

“I was doing cheerleading. Things didn’t go well, so now I’m taking a-- a break,” she says, smiling as if critical information _hadn’t_ been omitted from the story. The last thing she wants to do is tell someone’s parent about what she did and why her life has taken a turn down the drain. Both of their answers must be good enough, though.

 

“That’s good. Take some time to focus on your schoolwork. I’m sure if you’re struggling in any classes, Billy would love to help out,” Candace says.

 

Most of them have already cleared their plates, and they’ve been sitting here for a long time now, so it’s about time to clean up. They all stand, the three teens insisting to wash their own dishes. Candace smiles at them as a thank you, and with one gentle kiss to Billy’s head she leaves the room.

 

“We should invite Trini next time.” Billy says as they’re cleaning up and washing the dishes, “I wasn’t sure if today would be a good idea because I haven’t actually gotten to talk to her.”

 

Kim thinks about the four of them sitting here in Billy’s kitchen, chatting and joking around with each other. They’re _friends_ now, which must be pretty new for all of them. Just imagining everyone being happy together after all of this bonding and gaming warms her heart-- and that reminds her: Trini has no idea about Billy yet.

 

She gets the bright idea to pull out her phone, opening Snapchat and flipping the camera to face them. The two boys must get the hint so they get close around her with bright smiles and a thumbs up from Billy. It’s a cute photo, really, but soon they’ll need to take another one with all four of them.

 

_We found Billy!!_

 

The caption is short and sweet, and Kimberly is already amused from thinking of how confused Trini is going to be when she opens the snap. A few minutes pass before the photo is actually opened, but it takes only two seconds for there to be a response sent back.

 

Trini’s snap is a blur of motion, with the caption in all caps.

 

_ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??_

 

**

 

They all end up on Overwatch later that night around nine. Their conversation is moving at lightning speed, full of questions and unbelievable discoveries. Jason had Algebra class with Billy two years ago. Trini and Billy had been in the same literature class in September, but Trini had to switch periods due to a change in her schedule. They discuss the school itself and it’s population of annoying and hostile teenagers. In fact, they get _so_ into the discussion that they’re surprised when Zack sends a request to join the group. (They had briefly forgotten about him. Woops.)

 

“Sup, guys! What are we talking about?” He asks, realizing that he’d interrupted a conversation.

 

“We found out that we all go to the same high school,” Jason says, and it still sounds like he doesn’t even understand it himself. “It’s crazy, but true.”

 

“Whaaat?” Zack laughs. They all hold their breaths, waiting for some kind of comment that indicates that, by some extremely ridiculous chance, Zack goes to Angel Grove High School too. Instead, he sighs into his mic. “Damn, I can’t believe that! Sorry to be the exception to this weird fate thing going on though, but I definitely don’t go to the same high school as you guys. I dropped out two years ago.”

 

All of them hum in understanding, not wanting to push any further. They’ve gotten bits of information about his mother being sick, and how tight they are on money, so it doesn’t surprise any of them. It’s a shame that they don’t ask about what _town_ he lives in, though. (Maybe that would have saved them some shock later.)

 

Danny joins the group not too long after, completing their group. That makes this the best time for a big talk about the upcoming tournament.

 

“Are we actually doing it?” Trini questions.

 

“I mean, the idea of us actually winning is a little far-fetched, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to try,” Jason says. Signing up wouldn’t hurt them, really, so why not? Even if they were to lose in the very first bracket, it would be a fun group experience.

 

“So, that means we have to get in more practice before the qualifiers in two weeks.” Trini adds, leaning back in her desk chair. It just generates a loud _creak_ and she regrets it immediately.

 

“I knew you guys would be down for this!” Zack shouts, a little too happy about this. Though to be fair, it was his idea. Danny writes a few messages about how he’s willing to participate as well, and that he thinks they have a decent chance at winning. If they’re actually going to go through with this, however, they have to figure out how to divide the prize pool. Billy promises to calculate it after they finish playing.

 

With that out of the way and everything now settled, Jason instructs everyone to play characters that they aren’t used to. They’ll only be playing quick play rather than competitive, allowing them to get in a decent amount of practice. His reasoning is that if they’re more flexible with multiple heroes, they can swap characters to counter enemies in the future. It makes sense, so everyone chooses some of their weakest heroes to play as.

 

Kim decides to try perfecting her Ana, which could potentially be very useful if Danny has to switch mid-game. The only issue with this is how… dreadful her aim is. She isn’t all that bad at aiming while scoped (even if it isn’t ideal), but out of scope is horrendous.

 

The enemy Zarya ulted nearby in the middle of their third match, but it only caught Jason. He’s currently playing Reaper and is losing health _fast_ as the Graviton Surge keeps him caught in crossfire. And Kim is trying-- she really is-- but every single shot she’s firing at him just completely misses. Jason ends up dying quickly.

 

“Oh my god Kim, either stop playing Ana or learn how to shoot straight,” he groans, watching his death replay.

 

Kim laughs. “First of all, I never do anything straight, so jot that down.”

 

There’s a sound that comes through Trini’s mic that sounds like choking, and then some slight coughing.

 

“You okay, T?” Zack snickers, watching Trini stop in the middle of fighting as Orisa.

 

“Yeah,” Trini says, her voice clearly cracking because all she can think right now is _since when was Kim not straight?_ She had literally choked on her water when Kim spoke, completely taken aback by the statement. Was she just messing around, or was she serious? Holy fuck. Zack laughs a little more on his end, but no one else makes a comment on what just transpired.

 

They play a few more games, and Trini is actually getting pretty confident in her D.va skills. The development is actually pretty useful considering they need more tank players anyway; Billy can’t _always_ play tank. Poor guy deserves a little break. Zack continues to crack jokes about Trini being as tall as D.va, claiming that it’s a perfect match for her. In return, she vows to punch him in the face the moment they meet for the first time.

 

Trini’s Sombra has also gotten very good, but she probably won’t bring her out in competitive matches, especially in a tournament. Kim’s aim improved just a tad, and Billy has been building upon his Mei skills. Overall, the night was successful as a training session. They’re officially one step closer to winning that Overwatch tournament.

 

They call it a night, and Trini isn’t surprised to hear a message notification go off as soon as the game closes. Of course it’s a message from Kimberly, yet again using the Battle.net chat system.

 

**[PinkPoison]:** hey!  
**[Sabertooth]:** should i just give you my phone number? i’m pretty sure that’s way more convenient than battle.net  
**[PinkPoison]:** well i was gonna give you my number anyway but yeah give me yours ;)

 

Just like that, Trini is having a gay panic because that moment from earlier is still pestering her. Could Kim actually be flirting with her right now? She _said_ she wasn’t straight. Either way, they exchange their phone numbers and save them for later. Then it takes a little bit of bravery, but Trini finally convinces herself to ask about the joke.

 

**[Sabertooth]:** so… you never do anything straight huh??  
**[PinkPoison]:** LMAO i’m not surprised you caught that  
**[PinkPoison]:** but i’m bisexual so yeah

**[Sabertooth]:** oh cool

 

Oh cool. The _biggest_ understatement Trini has ever said in her life. She’s totally downplaying this reaction, because: one, Kim is not straight and maybe she actually has a chance, and two, Trini is not used to coming out yet. It makes her anxious to even think about doing it. Hell, Trini hasn’t even come out to her own parents yet. She just… can’t. But for some reason, Kim makes her feel more comfortable than everybody else does.

 

**[Sabertooth]:** i’m gay, actually

 

(And this definitely isn’t news to Kim. She knew from the first moment she _saw_ Trini, and that did nothing to help the butterflies in her stomach. It wasn’t doing anything to help the butterflies right now, either.)

 

**[PinkPoison]:** i think this is the smoothest my coming out has ever been  
**[Sabertooth]:** same  
**[Sabertooth]:** my parents don’t exactly know yet  
**[PinkPoison]:** only my dad knows  
**[PinkPoison]:** maybe my mom knows, if he told her  
**[PinkPoison]:** but i don’t think so  
**[Sabertooth]:** well, one day it’ll work out i guess  
**[PinkPoison]:** yeah, it will  
**[PinkPoison]:** it’ll work out for you too, T  
**[PinkPoison]:** :)

 

This is not how Trini anticipated this conversation to go, but it isn’t unwelcome. It makes her happy to know that someone, a _friend_ , understands her. The word is still foreign to her, and she’s still not even sure how this happened. The only thing Trini actually knows is that this makes her happy. Her friends. Kimberly.

 

It’s surreal.

 

**[PinkPoison]:** i should head to bed  
**[PinkPoison]:** talk to you tomorrow, big gay  
**[Sabertooth]:** is that my nickname now? okay  
**[Sabertooth]:** at least TRY to be more creative, hart  
**[PinkPoison]:** oh shut up  
**[PinkPoison]:** goodnight trini  <3  
**[Sabertooth]:** goodnight, kimmy

 

**

 

Trini finally gets to sleep in late the next morning without the interruption of a family breakfast. Her brothers had a soccer game at eight, which meant that they had to be up before seven and out of the house by seven thirty. Trini’s dad must have been generous enough to convince June not to wake their daughter up so early. It was wonderful to continue sleeping past noon for a change.

 

But then she gets woken up by her mom calling her from downstairs.

 

“Trini! You have a visitor!”

 

The words spring her out of bed instantly, regardless of how confused she is. A visitor? For _Trini_? It can only be one person, really, and that’s Kimberly. (Kim is the only one who knows where she lives-- she gave her rides home from school a few times in the past week.)

 

Trini looks at herself in the mirror. Messed up hair, an oversized PJ shirt, and shorts. Definitely not her best look. Okay, first thing’s first, she has to get dressed and then run to brush her teeth before--

 

There’s a knock on her bedroom door.

 

It startles her, but she rushes over to open it and, behold, there is Kimberly Hart with a grin and a box of Krispy Kreme. Trini just stands there for a moment awkwardly, and Kim giggles.

 

“Did you just wake up?” Kim asks, tilting her head just so. The answer is obvious, but teasing has become a fun little hobby for her. She’s also _really_ trying not to stare. Seeing Trini in this state is nothing short of fascinating, and Kim would be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying the leg exposure.

 

“Uh… yeah,” Trini mumbles, suddenly very embarrassed. “Wait out here for a sec.” She shuts the door and changes into something decent (jeans from the floor and a hoodie from her closet) before she lets Kim into her room. With another excuse, she dashes to the bathroom and brushes her teeth as quickly as possible. By the time she comes back, Kim is eating a glazed donut on the edge of her bed.

 

“Your mom seems… nice,” Kim says as Trini closes her bedroom door and leans against it. “She was asking me a lot of questions.”

 

“Yeah, well, I haven’t had a friend over in a really long time.” Trini says, pauses, and then shakes her head. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I thought it’d be fun to just hang out for the day. I brought donuts and my laptop,” Kim smiles, and Trini honestly can’t help but smile back. This is a very random and sudden visit, yes, but she doesn’t mind. Especially not when Kimberly Hart and free donuts are involved.

 

So they find a way to relax, sitting on Trini’s bed across from each other and fighting over which donuts they want. June pops in every now and then with a forced smile under the guise of asking Kim if she needs anything. The answer is always _no, I’m fine,_ and the door is shut soon after with a tired sigh from Trini. It only takes a few moments to forget about it, though, when Kim cracks a joke about something Billy said over dinner the previous day.

 

Overall, it’s pretty nice.

 

“Now that all of the donuts are gone,” Kim starts, grinning, “Overwatch time?”

 

Trini raises her eyebrows, and she wants to say yes, but she just ate half a box of donuts for breakfast. “I don’t think I can move right now, Kim,” she groans, laying back on the bed.

 

There’s some laughter from Kim while she struggles to pull her laptop out of the bookbag she brought along. As soon as she does, it immediately grabs Trini’s attention. Firstly, it’s bright pink. Maybe it’s custom made, or Kim specifically searched for a pink laptop while browsing for one. Either way, nothing about the color actually surprises Trini. Secondly, it looks _expensive_. The computer must have cost her at least a thousand dollars, which is ridiculous compared to the price Trini paid for her own piece of garbage. Kim must notice her staring, though, because she smiles as she turns it on.

 

“It’s nothing compared to Billy’s setup,” she says.

 

“Yeah, well… you should see mine. The thing belongs in a dumpster,” Trini laughs, gesturing vaguely to her desk. The laptop is sitting out in the open, waiting to be used for the day. On that cue, Kim goes over and stands in front of the desk as her fingertips brush against the laptop. She grabs Trini’s headset and puts it on with an amused smile.

 

“So these are the headphones you use?” Kim questions. She’s inspecting the attached microphone and the little panel of buttons on its cord. The only headphones she has access to at the moment are her regular earbuds, which luckily have a mic. Trini sits up again on her bed, running her hands through her hair and pushing it over one shoulder in a manner that should totally be _illegal_. (Kim’s heart probably stops beating for a split second.) Her eyes dart around the room before they finally land on Trini’s computer. She turns it on and watches the screen illuminate.

 

The background is a nice edit of Pharah and Mercy in the sky, which makes Kim hum fondly. Maybe Trini only chose this picture because she’s a fan of the ship itself, but the idea still remains: that’s _them_. (Trini must realize Kim’s train of thought, too, because she clears her throat and tries to occupy herself with the empty donut box.)

 

“This doesn’t seem that bad,” Kim says eventually, looking at the laptop. Sure, it’s kind of small, but nothing seems inherently disappointing. She hovers over the Overwatch icon and turns back to Trini. “May I?”

 

“Go for it,” Trini nods.

 

Overwatch opens pretty slowly, which should have at least prepared her for what was coming next. It didn’t. As soon as the menus screen loaded, Kim couldn’t help but be completely taken aback. Trini’s frame rate is around 20 FPS, and the heroes look terribly pixelated. It’s impossible to make out any details.

 

“Holy shit. This is…” Kim mumbles.

 

“Horrible? Yeah. I know.”

 

“I mean-- yeah, horrible.” Kim frowns as she looks through the girl’s settings, showing that her graphics are on the lowest possible level. She shakes her head, and Trini starts to feel somewhat ashamed of her shitty computer. “I just can’t believe this. Your game is on the lowest settings and you’re still _that_ good? Imagine how good you’d be if you had good equipment, Trin!”

 

Trini realizes then that Kim is smiling, because she turns to face her on the bed and there’s this strange look in her eyes. Is she impressed? Surprised? Determined? And then comes the burning blush across her cheeks, because _wow,_ she never thought she’d see the day that a gorgeous ex-cheerleader complimented her on her overwatch gameplay.

 

But it’s true, her equipment is pretty low quality. If they somehow manage to win that upcoming tournament, Trini is definitely investing in a new computer with her share of the prize pool.

 

“Hey, Zack is online,” Kim says. She’s looking at the Social screen, and sure enough, Zack’s username is at the very top of her friends list. “Hold on, watch this.”

 

Before Trini can actually say anything, Kim clicks the ‘join game’ button and the screen switches to a Nepal loading screen. This is going to be… interesting, to say the least. Trini finds the energy to drag herself off of the bed and walk over to Kim’s side, leaning in close so that she can hear the sound from her headphones. The close proximity puts them both on edge until Zack’s annoying voice comes through the voice channel.

 

“Hey, T! I was wondering when you were gonna get on,” Zack laughs when the game finally loads. Kim somehow replies with a perfectly straight face.

 

“Oh, yeah, I slept in a little late today,” she says, and flashes Trini a cute smile.

 

Zack remains silent for a very long moment, confused. The game said Sabertooth, right? He briefly checks the battletag and, yep, it says Sabertooth, but this is obviously Kim’s voice.

 

“What… Kim? How the hell did you get on--”

 

Both of the girls burst out laughing before Zack can finish his sentence. Immediately, it clicks in his mind.

 

“Oh, what?! You two are _visiting_ each other? Not fair,” he whines, no longer paying attention to the match he’s in. One of the players on his team leaves the game, suddenly throwing Kim into it as backfill.

 

There’s a bit of bickering between the three of them, claiming that Zack is totally jealous right now, and _no, Kim, just because you’re on my account doesn’t mean you have to play Pharah-- and you’re doing it anyway_. They lose the first round, and Zack is hysterically laughing at how Kim can’t land a single rocket.

 

“Oh my god, let me take over. This is painful,” Trini says, motioning for Kim to get out of her chair. Kim laughs so loudly at the comment that it makes her heart flutter.

 

As she sits down at her desk, puts on her headsets and listens to Kim turn on her own laptop, Trini takes the time to think.

 

Is this what it’s like to have a stable group of friends?

 

God, it’s been so long… The last time Trini had real friends was years ago, before her parents started this moving-every-year concept. Having these amazing friends who go out of their way to spend time with her is so foreign. And yet it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world. Trini honestly can’t help but be _happy_ around them (even if her heart races any time Kim gets closer or looks in her direction).

 

She hopes things stay this way.

 

Kim leaves around dinnertime, and Trini is thankful because it means that she doesn’t have to endure the signature Gomez parents interrogation. They’re exchanging smiles with each other as Trini walks her to the front door.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” June asks, following them. The offer seems strained, but Trini must be the only one who picks up on that. Kimberly just laughs politely.

 

“My parents want me to be home by seven, but maybe another day.” Kim says, and fights the urge to give Trini a farewell hug (or something much worse). At the very least, she gives Trini one last wave and mouths _text me?_

 

Trini nods and shows her out, closing the front door once Kim is inside of her car.

 

Having friends really isn’t so bad.

 

**

 

Practicing has gone really well, for the most part.

 

They’ve become more confident in their strategies, gameplay, and communication (especially with Danny, who is still relatively new to them). A few of them have significantly polished up on some of their issues, like staying grouped up and not getting angry over not receiving enough heals.

 

Well… that last one was just Zack. He’s still working on it.

 

Time is quickly ticking down for them, because they’ve gone from having two weeks to just two days. The tournament qualifiers are right around the corner, and no one can truly tell if they’re ready for it. They can only hope that all of this practice has paid off.

 

As for the four that go to Angel Grove, they’ve started eating lunch together every day. Which is extremely odd to everyone else in the school. It’s the most random group of friends, and no one could have ever anticipated that they’d band together. Jason Scott, Kimberly Hart, the nerd who blew up a lunch box, and… a girl no one has ever heard of. But they all get along really well, and their conversations flow so naturally.

 

Kim spends most of her time trying not to stare at Trini so much. Consciously, of course, because subconsciously, she does it all the time. Whenever they make eye contact during Biology or lunch she basically panics and tries to look in another direction, ignoring how pathetic she’s being. It’s a _crush_ , Kimberly.

 

And she can’t even tell if Trini is catching onto this stupid crush but by the looks of it, Jason definitely is.

 

He keeps grinning at her from across their lunch table in this weird way whenever Kim is averting her eyes elsewhere, like when Trini gets up for more lunch fries, walking away in those really tight skinny jeans of hers--

 

Yeah, Jason can definitely tell, if Kim is as obvious as she thinks she is.

 

“Hey guys, I’m really excited for the tournament on Friday.” Billy announces, oblivious to a slightly flustered Kim and amused Jason.

 

“Yeah. Me too, Billy.” Jason says. It’s time to give Kim a break. “But remember, even if we lose in the qualifiers we did our best and there’s always next time.”

 

“Can you imagine if we actually win though?” Trini says when she returns, sitting down right next to Kim. She eats a fry and offers some to Kim, who gladly takes a handful. “We should invest in a Twitch channel, too.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Kim agrees with a sparkle in her eyes that Trini does not miss. The two of them are just kind of looking at each other, as if no one else is with them at the table. They don’t even notice when all of their phones light up with a new snap from Zack.

 

Jason opens it first, stares at his screen for a while quietly, before he finally speaks. “Hey guys, take a look at the picture Zack just sent.”

 

His request doesn’t sound urgent, but there’s a confusion in his voice that piques everyone’s interest. Billy opens the five second video next. It’s of him outside of a Krispy Kreme, excitedly holding up a plastic bag and hollering. There isn’t anything distinctly weird about it. Except…

 

“That looks a lot like our Krispy Kreme, Jason,” Billy frowns. The snap continues to repeat on his screen, eyes very focused on the building in the background.

 

“That’s what I thought, too,” Jason says.

 

Kim opens her mouth, ready to deny this somehow with an excuse. Krispy Kremes must look similar everywhere, right? There has to be an explanation. Something. Anything. But then Trini is speaking up.

 

“Yeah, look at the street sign right there.” She points to a sign in the top right corner, just barely visible with Zack’s shaky camerawork.

 

Yep, that’s definitely the Krispy Kreme here in Angel Grove.

 

This just keeps getting better.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I've been pretty busy, but it's finally done. Hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> Thanks @ bisexualpowerranger for being a great beta, and thanks to everybody for reading and leaving kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> Work title and chapter title are from "Unstoppable" by The Score (aka the song from the end of Power Rangers because it's a good song).
> 
> This is gonna be a very long multi-chapter fic, so strap yourselves in for a ride! I'll try to keep this updated at least once or twice a week, since it's summer and I have nothing else to do. Thanks @ my pal bisexualpowerranger for being my beta this time around.
> 
> Comments and reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for reading!! (hmu @ cabooseachievables on tumblr if you wanna talk about stuff)


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